In a spin

Here is some more spun goodness that I have had on the wheel. The merino fibre came from Ewe Give Me the Knits in Australia, and once again was a delight to spin and ply.

In a couple of months we are off overseas to visit Melissa ( tiny happy), and I have a gowing list of things to do before we fly away. So reluctantly I am having a wee break from blogging , I am cutting down the amount of time I spend on the computer and filling up that space with "necessary things I have to do before I go away", ( you know, ALL that important stuff).

I have so enjoyed this world of blogging and have loved the connection and friendships with all of you in cyberspace. Thank you so much for your comments and interest in my posts. It has been wonderful to meet so many other "crafty" women.

I hope to resume quiteahandful on my return and this is only goodbye for a little while.

Take care everyone, and I look forward to catching up soon.

Peter and the Wolf

I play the violin in our local Symphony Orchestra, and on Saturday along with the Youth Theatre we performed three shows of the wonderful classic Peter and the Wolf. This link is the clay animation version on youtube.I wish I could bring you our performance on youtube, but it's not available yet :)

This was such fun to do and the little tunes have been playing in my head for the last month or so....very catchy.

Ian took some of our grandaughters and our little Eve, who stayed for the weekend keeps talking about the "Big Bad Wolf !"

The puppets were very lifelike and manipulated on the stage by the puppeteers from the youth theatre (who were dressed from head to toe in black, so were barely noticed when the show was on) with the clever lighting.

Each show was packed full and it was wonderful to see the faces of the children as they were watching and listening...magic!

A friend who has played with me in the orchestra for many years, brought these to rehearsal the other night. She had found them at a car boot sale and knew they would be filled with treasure for me!

I am certainly thinking about making a pair of the mittens...just don't know when it will be, maybe when we visit Norway in June, it might be nice to have a pair on the needles.

Packaged and Posted

It feels very good to send these away.This month of March I had redoubled my hours of working on Alexander's blanket and Melissa's Arisaig and I was in a fever to finish!

Something that I have discovered this month about myself, is that as soon as I set myself a time limit to finish a project, then the actual process becomes devoid of the same enjoyment that I was experiencing before the self imposed time limit. Interesting, I am thinking. There have been quilts and shawls and jackets (big projects) that I have made over the years, and without a time limit, I work on them when I feel like it, sometimes, as was the case with my anniversary quilt , I feel a little bereft when the work finally comes to a completion.

However in this case, I am very happy to be finished and sending them off and hope that the recipients will be happy!

I am having a great day today thinking about all the other things I have queued up and before I tackle something big, I might just have a little break and knit something for fun , like this,

a little brown monkey from the book "Toys to Knit" by Tracey Chapman.

Crossing over to Autumn

We have just had the most beautiful Easter weekend, weather wise, that I can remember. Brilliant sunshine and hot days, warm enough to still swim in the rivers and the sea. I didn't swim, but I did spend some time in the garden and planted the brassicas for the autumn, and some bulbs for the spring.

I brought some hyacinth bulbs inside, so I can watch the changes that take place.

I always enjoy the process of seeing the tiny green shoots appearing, and watching them grow into large flowers that, last year, needed a couple of my knitting needles to support their stems, the flowers were so heavy and fragrant.

I love the movement of the seasons, and the treats in store that each month brings. Our walnut tree is not quite ready to drop it's treasure, but when it does, I know the feijoas will not be far behind.

Endings and Beginnings

This is definitely a week for for the start and finish line.

I have finished Alexander's woven blanket and I like it so much that I am going to make another one just the same.....grhhh. I don't REALLY want to because this one was a bit of a mission to make and was a teeny wee bit boring in the end to do, BUT having said that, it does look absolutely perfect on my sofa. Of course it goes so well with the one I wove on the other sofa!

I washed Alexander's blanket in a special merino woolwash and hung it out on this gorgeous Autumn morning

It is now incredibly soft . I wish you could all have a feel of how soft it is, perfect to wrap yourself into on a cold winter's night!.The yarns I always use for these blankets are Touch Yarns and they are truly luxurious yarns. It is Alexander's birthday on April 1st, and I have toyed with the idea of sending something else in it's place and writing a birthday message of "Ha April Fool!!"
No, I couldn't be that mean, :)
So, I am about to visit the shop where I buy these yarns and ( sigh) start the process all over again.

The Tail End

Yesterday in the late afternoon we were driving on the Whangamoa Saddle. Ian was carefully

negotiating the sharp bends and curvy corners, because as well as the two dogs, we had Uncle Alan sitting in the back, and didn't want him to feel carsick. On this rather ordinary afternoon , in the car , being driven along I had a Eureka moment. Finally, after two and a half years I put the last stitch in the Arisaig cardigan. Oh it was such a good feeling! It was actually quite amazing that I could knit at all, as this is a very winding road ( my father used to call it The Long and Winding Road), but that will show you and anyone who knows the Whangamoas, that I was truly desperate to finish!

I only have this to knit now and then it will be ready to sew together.This tie has to be 80 inches long and then I shall knit another of 18 inches. They will be the ties that make it into the wrap.

Ta Dah !!! More pics before the sewing up

Four Things

I have been tagged by Pebbledash to do a four thing meme, so without too much preamble, here goes:

Four Movies I'd Watch again

As it is in Heaven

Vitus

Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensability

The Red Violin

Four Places I've Lived

Sandwich, Kent UK

Cowden, Kent UK

Wakatu, Stoke, Nelson

Wakapuaka, Nelson

Four TV shows I watch

Sunday Masterpiece Theatre

TV One News

Doc Martin

60 Minutes

Four Places I've Been

Florence, Italy

Loumarin, France

Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Limerick, Ireland

Four People I email

Melissa

Tamsin

Alexander

Sarah

These are all my children, except Tristan who doesn't have a computer

I email friends of course, and family overseas.

Four Things I Love to eat

Chocolate

Cheese and crackers

Raspberries and Strawberries

Maltezers

Four Places I'd Rather Be

Moenui Bay, Marlborough Sounds, NZ

Edinburgh, Scotland

Keri Keri, Bay of Islands, NZ

San Gimignano,Italy

Four Things to look Forward To

Our trip to Norway to visit Melissa and Tom and the children in June

My Mum's eightieth birthday on the 1st November ( a huge milestone for her, having survived massive brain surgery thirty years ago)

The day I put the last stitch in the Arisaig !!!! ( See previous posts)

A wool embroidery and applique workshop I am going to in April with friends, staying at Moenui.

Four People to Tap

Gillybean,

Melissa

Caireen

Miss Flossy

So there you have it...I have left out forty or four hundred other "things", and when I read it back to myself, I thought it sounded quite boring...truthful, but boring!

Yesterday I made a new friend. A fellow quilter from Chicago. We spent the whole day together and talked non-stop, Mary Jo is definitely my kindred spirit. I took her to visit the local quilt shops and we found ourselves at The Quilters Barn in Blenheim for afternoon tea..I had to snap this

as I am so "into all things Kaffe Fassett " right now. It was hanging on display in the shop as they are in the middle of a class teaching the Kaffe Fassett technique which is all about colour, colour and more colour. They are going to be stocking a rather large range of his fabrics next month., but at the moment for the current class, students are using what they have in their own stashes of fabric.

I don't know why I love his style so much.The quilts that I have made using these bright and bold prints are ones that I give away each time, because I live in an old, newly renovated farmhouse and even though I have a lot of colour in the house, I know that the finished quilts don't really suit my style of interior design, but I am so drawn to the fabrics especially the large florals.I guess if the quilts could just hang around in my garden all year, they would be very comfortable there. Meanwhile I am just enjoying this rather obsessive phase with KF.

Thank you Mary Jo for a very memorable day.